The Fate of Carmen

Beginning with Prosper Merimee's 1845 novella, Carmen has been the subject of countless portrayals—from Bizet's 1874 opera, to various dramatic, dance, and musical renditions, to the films of De Mille, Chaplin, Lubitsch, the Marx Brothers, Preminger, Brooks, Godard, Rossi, and Saura. In , Evlyn Gould offers a comparative study of the power and variability of this modern myth through readings that examine the cultural dilemmas posed by the story. Exploring a range of competing representations, Gould asks whether Carmen is a dangerous , a liberated woman, or, as Nietzsche saw her, a warrior in the vanguard of the battle between the sexes.